User Reviews

I love it

Amazing Atmosphere

Awesome atmosphere. Very unique. Great food, but small portions of it. Service was pretty good.

Braai

Posted by Fnkysta on 03/02/2009

Not the South Africa I want to think of in NYC

As a proud South African, I felt compelled to write this review. I was super excited about this restaurant and felt that it would be a great place to go to after a Broadway show. The ambiance is really cool and did make me feel a little homesick (in this case a good thing). We were one of two tables in the restaurant (the other being occupied by the owner/manager and some friends/or business associates – ont sure which). The food was mediocre AT BEST and WAY overpriced. As for the wine, the mark up is a bit of a joke and the wine menu is very deceiving as it lists the price for ½ bottles of wine for ALL wines. I actually ordered a bottle of wine which I thought was $35, but ended up being $70. This means that the cheapest bottle of wine is actually $50 which strikes me as odd. The service was fine at the beginning of the night but became more and more useless and by the end I was so annoyed that all I wanted to do was leave. If you are a South African or from Southern Africa you will be disappointed when you go here. If you have never been to South Africa, please do not let this restaurant shape your image.

Braai

Posted by meltab on 01/18/2009

great experience all around!

I have never reviewed a restaurant however I felt my boyfriend and I had such a great experience at BRAAI that we should give them credit where it's deserved. The atmosphere is really cute and cozy. The place in general was really nicely decorated. Also, our waiter was amazing, I feel horrible because I don't remember his name but he was so helpful and extremely accomodating. He recommended great wines and answered all of our questions. We got a 1/2 bottle of recommended wine and it was very good. We started off with the soup and also the mushroom appetizer, both great. You could tell everything was made right then and there from scratch. For the entrees my boyfriend got the seafood biryani entree (a special that night) and I got the prawns. Both were to die for. My only complaint was that the prawns were a little messy to eat (they were cooked with the shell). Our dessert was malva pudding and it was one of the best desserts I've ever had. the Value was great...1/2 botle of wine, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 1 dessert came out to $115 which in my opinion is a great deal. Restaurant comes highly recommended!

Braai

Posted by Ene on 12/24/2008

Great atmosphere

Braai looks great, very south african like but the food was horrible. Oh my goodness i cant believe that they are making people eat that food. That is not the way south african food tastes like. They are insulting south africans. Xai Xai is great..braai is a waste of money. The worst experience.

Braai

Posted by Anonymous on 12/08/2008

Unpleasant experience

The first hint our group of four was in for an unpleasant experience happened the moment we walked into Braai at the time of our reservation. 4 staff were congregated at the bar. They glanced towards the front doorand kept talking. Only when I walked over to the bar did a staff member seat us. Three of the hot entrees were served at nearly room temperature. The entree for the fourth person only arrived several minutes later. (There were just eight other customers in the restaurant at that time.) Noone on the wait staff ever stopped by to refill water. I can't really comment on the quality of the food because it was cold by the time we ate it. Clearing the dishes took forever. Only after we asked the waiter to remove the table crumbs did another member of the waitstaff appear. With a napkin, that person wiped anything on the table directly on to the floor. Ugh. Serving the coffee marked a restaurant first for all in our group. There was so little coffee in the cups, we thought the waiter would be serving the coffee in a container for the table. It will never be clear to us whether Braai customarily serves coffee in standard cups only about one-fifth full, because we left shortly afterwards. Add us to those never going back to Braai.

Braai

Posted by chamorrofoodie on 10/13/2008

Great atmosphere, but OK food.

Went to Braai on 10/9 with a friend. First impression: great space very cozy. You feel like you're in a hut b/c of the thatch roof. We ordered 2 skewers for starters and 2 entrees. The lamb skewer was very tender and flavorful. The chicken wasn't. It was dry and while it had a lot of spices, it didn't taste like much. I had the ostrich, which had a nice combination of sweet and savory flavors throughout the dish. Ostrich tastes just like beef and looks like it, too! My friend had the prawns, which was very difficult to eat b/c the shell was still attached. It's hard to take the shell of a grilled prawn! I think she enjoyed the yellow rice that came with the prawns more than the prawns itself. We split the kepi (?) sisters dessert, which was fried dough with sorbet. Not worth it. We took one bite of the honey soaked dough and almost spit it out. Price for two with 1/2 bottle of wine: $130. Not cheap for Hell's Kitchen.